“The sex act?” April repeats, casting a sympathetic look my way. “That’s what my parents called it when they caught me in bed with my boyfriend. Come on, Luke, up your vocabulary.”
“Well, I happen to still be a virgin,” Luke says, touching her fingers to her chest and then frowning. “Although I’m not sure I even believe in the concept. I think virginity might be a social construct presented to us by the patriarchy.”
“As much as I enjoy conversations about the patriarchy,” I start, noticing that Barron’s finally stood up, his multi-colored eyes on me. “I think we should go.”
“Why?” Luke asks, brows furrowing as she glances back in the Knight Crew’s direction. They’re all looking at me now, them and their cronies, their groupies. I try not to judge the hangers-on. After all, they’re drawn to the power, the danger, the impossibility of the Knight Crew. But yet … I can’t help wrinkling my nose at the small crowd around Calix’s table, the gleam in their eyes that says they’ll work for snacks. Like dogs. Pathetic.
“Let’s go,” I say, standing up and grabbing my book bag. I barely make it three steps before I’m slamming into Raz’s chest. I hadn’t noticed him move, but there he is, sly mouth twisted into a rictus grin beneath his mask. His fingers curl around my wrist, tight enough to bruise. Shit. He’s magnificently—almost disturbingly—handsome in his cruelty. The universe isn’t fair, is it? He shouldn’t be so pretty.
“Bonjour, Karma,” he purrs, yanking me close as Calix, Barron, Sonja and their awful horde of followers—dressed in glittering faerie masks, grotesque goblin faces, and the grinning visages of hag-like witches—approach, circling me. Cutting me off from April and Luke.
“I’m not afraid to go to the administration!” Luke calls out, but I’m surrounded now, forced to look up into Raz’s red eyes, the vicious, spiteful gleam in them sending chills down my spine. For the past three years, I’ve worried about Devils’ Day, wondered what trouble the Knight Crew might bring my way. I thought last year’s ruse of Calix confessing his love and then fucking me was the worst they could do. But the way Raz is looking at me right now? Maybe I was wrong.
Maybe things can get a whole lot worse.
“An eye for an eye,” Raz says, dragging me forward. I start fighting him the moment he begins to move, but Barron appears on my other side, restraining me. Even outside their little circle of influence, the other students watch hungrily, their filthy rich maws wet with slaver as they seek out violence and discord with glittering black eyes.
I know—I know—that Devils’ Day isn’t supernatural, that it doesn’t mean anything, but sometimes, it feels like there’s some truth it. The demons and devils … they really have come out to play.
Raz clamps a hand over my mouth to keep me from screaming as he and Barron drag me down the halls toward the front entrance of the school. We don’t pass by any staff members on our way, and as much as I’d like to believe that Luke or April will get help for me, they’re probably trapped in the courtyard by the remainder of Calix’s worshipful mob.
We stumble down the front steps of the school and toward the gravel parking lot that’s designated for students. All around us, the woods stand a silent witness to whatever torment the Knight Crew has in store.
As soon as I see my car—affectionally dubbed the Little Bee by my family and friends—I can see what Raz means by an eye for an eye. The tires are missing, the windshield is smashed to pieces, and the rear hood is lifted up, exposing what’s left of the engine.
The boys release me, throwing me to my knees in the gravel. I cringe as rocks and bits of debris get stuck in my skin, sending a wave of agony through me. Raz adds to the torment by kicking dust up in my face and laughing as I choke on it.
“You fucking assholes,” I grind out, trying and failing to push up to my feet. Barron puts a hand on my shoulder and shoves me to my knees with little effort on his part. The crowd swarms around us, blocking me with a wall of human flesh, their masks eerie in the afternoon light. My body quivers with adrenaline as I look up and find Calix in his black mask, staring down at me, Sonja smirking on his right side. “Don’t think I’m afraid to report you,” I quip, because I’ve done it in the past, and I’ll do it again. That’s what started all of this, I think. Freshman year, I reported the three of them for harassing a fellow student. No, no, not just harassing but assaulting. They beat the shit out of some poor boy and left him with broken limbs.
Of course, I don’t know for sure that that’s why they hate me. My complaint was anonymous, so they’re not supposed to know. I just always assumed they’d found out somehow.
“Report us?” Calix asks, his voice like a cool winter night. When dark first starts to fall, when the sun first sets, and the quiet and cold set in, you convince yourself you can last until first light. But slowly, hour after hour, it just gets colder and darker and quieter until you find yourself shivering, half-frozen, and counting down the minutes until insanity, frostbite, or death. That’s Calix, in a nutshell. “You’re not going to report us. Karma, ne fais pas l'idiot.” Don’t be a fool. “You hit my car this morning—on purpose. I’m just going to assume you don’t have insurance. And we both know you don’t have any money.” Calix reaches out and runs a finger down the side of my face. I consider biting it, but that won’t make my day any easier.
I’m surrounded.
I settle for glaring, my hands balled into fists, my body quivering with unspent rage.
“Consider us even—for now.” He smiles at me again, and then leans forward, putting his lips near mine. “But tonight is the Devils’ Day Party. We both remember what happened last year.” I haul back and slap him in the face as hard as I can, and he rears back, a sharp frown curving his lips as his cheek turns pink.
“What a feisty little kitty-cat,” Raz growls, grabbing me by the hair and yanking my head back. The crowd around us hisses, as if they’re as wild and fae as the masks they’re wearing. “Do you like pissing us off? Because you’re so damn good at it.” He looks up, glancing to Calix before running his tongue over his lips—hungrily. “What do you think we could do with her this year? If I confess my love, do you think she’ll fuck me, too?”
I jerk my hair from Raz’s grasp, despite the pain in my scalp, but when I make a run for it, Barron grabs me, folding me up in strong arms and yanking me back to front against his hard body. The sleeves of his white hoodie envelop me as he sucks on a lollipop and clinks it against his teeth.
Raz peels bits of purple hair from his fingertips in disgust and gives Calix a look. Just then, the bell rings, and one of the administrators appears on the front steps, watching us with an expectant look.
Nobody at Crescent Prep gives a shit about what the staff has to say, but—despite their bravado—they sure as hell care about news of their disobedience getting back to their parents. Most of them have a lot to lose, after all—trust funds, inheritances, monthly allowances worth more than my parents’ yearly wages. They’re always very, very careful to keep their games hidden.
“Let’s tie her to a tree and leave her there overnight, see what happens when the devils come out to play,” Raz suggests, fingering the edge of my now-dirty academy jacket. His red eyes gleam as he rakes his other hand over his dirty blonde hair.